Process of constructing and assembling guns.



No. 727,766. PATENTED MAY 12, 190s. A. H. BMERY. PROCESS 0FGONSTRU'CTING AND A SSEMBLING GUNS.

PPPP IGATION FILED NOV. 2, 1897.

PATENTED MAY 12, 1903.

A. H. EMERY.

PROGBSS 0F GONSTRUGTING AND ASSEMBLING GUNS.

APPLIOATION FILED Nov. 2. 1897.

No MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

intentes ini-.ty 12, lef.`

` ATENT FFICE.

lALBERT n. EMER'Y, C F STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

PROCESS oF CoNsTRuCTlNc AND AssEMeLlNc GUNS.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of' LettersPatent No. 727,766, dated May 12,1903.

i Applibation iiled November-2, 1897. Serial No. 657.268. (No model.) V

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I ,ALBERT H. EMERY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, haveinvented a new and Improved Process of Constructing andAssembling Guns, ot'- which the followingis a speci- 'lcation.

My invention consists ina mode whereby linings and other parts of gunsare assembled and condensed, either or both, by means of pressure ofliquid either alone or in conjunction with moving rollers or mandrels,or both,

L for the purpose of increasing the strength and ticularshereinafterexplained.

The bores of bronze guns have heretofore been condensed by myself andothers by forcing a mandrel through them.- This process has not so far.enabled the constructor to condense ,the metal to any considerable depthfrom the bore, but often injures the surface from the great vibrationsand distortion of the metal produced as the dies or mandrels are forcedbackward and forward over the surface, the action being so great as topartially break up and disintegrate the metal at and near the surface,while not extending the condensation to any considerable depth. To avoidthese evils, 1 have devised the process hereinafter described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, by which I not only condensethe interior surfaces of bores and linings of guns without injury, but Icondense these parts clear through and greatly increase the limit ofelasticity and ultimate strength of the whole piece, whether such piececonstitutes the lining or other part ofthegun or is in itself a completegun. At the same time the piece being treated by this process will, iftaken from the gun, be found tol have strainsof compression ou theinterior and tenf IV are detail longitudinal sections,0n a larger scale,illustrating dilerent forms of packing used in carrying out myinvention. Fig. V is a longitudinal section of a gun with apparatus forapplyingfand locating liquidpres sure therein. Fig. VI is a longitudinalsecpressnre by rollers and liquid combined.

46 showsa large cylinder, of gun iron or steel, bored out and fitted toreceive the strengthening-rings 47, ot' tempered steel, which are madeof any number of series requiredfor the necessary strength. As hereshown there arefonr.

48 and 49 show tubes, of tempered steel, suitably prepared and insertedyin the apparatus used in the construction of the gun.

28 shows a bore-lining undergoing condensation. bronze or other suitablematerial. Itis first dressed to the size of the interior tube 49 andthen carefully bored and inserted ready for condensation. Beforebeinginserted it may be provided with a .packing-groove and packing, (shownat 60,) as is also the liningtube 49, so that these parts may beinserted and taken out by the aid of liquid-pressure, as I havedescribed inappiications,designated Serial No. 505,155, led March 26,1894, and Serial No. 11,904, filed April 6, 1900. In

This maybe of softsteel or chilled .tion Vof a gun with apparatus forapplying.

condensing the tubes 28 the heavy pressure required to suicientlycondense them causes the metal to ilow longitudinally, for which reasonthe piece must be firmlyv secured against this flowing by collars orother suitable means applied at its ends. 46B shows a collar=whichsecures this piece at yone end. A similar one may be used at the' otherend. When the piece 28 has been inserted and these collarssecuredagainst. the ends thereof, the condensing-bar 50 is inserted. rl`.his bar has around it an annular space or spaces 53 53, into whichliquid is forced by the pumpthe piece thoroughly is too great to beapplied to the whole length at once with safety to the gun. Theapparatus for condensing, however, may be made so strong as to resistVthe pressure, when condensing is best performed by allowing the pressureto act on the whole interior surface at once. It will often be desirableto use a greater pressure on these linings in condensing than couldbe'properly applied to the apparatus on the whole length of thebore-lining at once. To avoid applying this pressure to the Wholelengt-h of the bore-lining at once and yet make use of the heavypressure desired, the annular spaces 53 or 53 may be short, as hereshown, or very much shorter. Condensation then takes place by condensingwith small pressure the piece 28 throughout its whole length byapparatus which willdo so at once, as described,or bycondensinga shortlength atatime by the apparatus as shown and moving this along from timeto time as the part around it becomes condensed until the whole has beencondensed. After 'the condensation has been performed with moderatepressure greater pressure may be used in one of these annular spacesthan could at first be applied without causing the metal to flow away,and when the piece is condensed in the gun I prefer usually togo over itseveral times, condensing it in sections with one pressure and afterwardrepeating with larger pressure, increasing the pressure each time thesurface is gone over and allowing the surface operated on at any time tooverlap that already condensed. When the condensing is done in the gun,this plan may be used successfully, especially if the final condensingbe done with apparatus which acts on a short space only at any one time,so as to loadonlyasmall portion of the guns walls at once, when theadjoining parts of the gun will aid those parts in resisting the heavypressure put upon the lining opposite them. It will sometimes happenthat the part being pressed will flow away under these pressures. 'loprevent this flowing, three annular spaces may be used in conjunction,the

middle one'having a very heavy pressure,.

and the two outer spaces, which are close ad joining the other, havinglighter pressures upon them and no more than the metal will holdwithoutowing sensibly. This will prevent the heavy pressure on theinterior space from causing the metal to dow away, and will apply thepacking 54 and then replaced.

thus permit the heavy condensation. When more than one annular space isused around the bar 50, the walls between these spaces should be asnarrow as they can be made and have them stand the severe strainsimposed. Packings are shown at 54 in Fig. I. Fig. III shows an enlargedView of one of these packings. It may be made of three or more pieces,as here shown, the parts 57 57 being of soft steel or copper, 58 a thinsheet of brass or copper, and 59 leather. A packing of this nature maybe used in the grooves at 60 around the bore-lining 28 and the lining ofthe tube 49 for the purpose` of inserting or removing them, as desired,and when thus used it may take the form shown in Fig. IV, the parts ofsteel or copper 57 being` retained and the leather 59 introduced with orwithout the intermediate sheet of metal 58. The leather may be replacedby any other suitable elastic material. The liquid to be used hadgenerally best not be very fluid, in consequence of the difficulties inretaining it. The packing 54 may be of such kind as to require theenlargement 55, forming the end of a chamber,t.o be removable, for whichpurpose it may be in the form of a collar and threaded, as

shown at 62, whereby it may be taken oit' to After the lining 28 hasbeen suitably condensed it is removed from the condensing apparatus byforcing liquid between it and the tube 49 with the necessary pressure torelease it suficiently so that it'may be slipped out by hydraulicpressure or by other means. The process of doing this and inserting itin the gun has been fully described by me in my applications abovementioned.

The plunger 5l may be forced down the bar 50 to force the liquid orpaste into the annular space 53 by a screw or any other suitable means.Hydraulicpressureoperatingapiston in the bar 50 may accom plish thisvery wel l and' is perhaps the mostdesirable way,the baritself forming acylinder in that part which is not here shown, with a piston placed onthe rod 51 of sufficient area to force it down. This same apparatus maybe made for condensing larger linings by taking out the tube 49, whichitself maybeagun-lining. As many of these removable lining-tubes may beused as the nature'and variety ot' the guns being constructed shallrender desirable. After the lining has been inserted in the gun andbefore final boring and riliing the gun should be thoroughly tested andstrained by hydraulic pressure suitably applied, as I will now describe.The bar 50 for this purpose may have an. enlarged surrounding sleeve35", which is screwed into the gun in place of the breech-block or intoa collar screwed therein, the bar itself extending nearly or quite tothe muzzle of the gun; but I prefer the construction shown'in Fig. V,which admits of longitudinal motion'of the bar. Around it are providedseveral annular spaces inthat part which nearly fits the bore. -Four orfive of y The packings 54, &c., will prevent the liquid from runningfrom one space into another when pressure is applied. For the initialpressure the liquid may be allowed to act on the whole bore from thepacking at the rear of the chamber around thefbar 50 clear to thepacking at the muzzle of the gun around the same bar, and thus the wholeinterior of the gun be loaded by such pressure as the bore of the chaseshould endure. This pressure should be suiiicient to cause a permanentset throughout the whole length of the chase or muzzled part of thegunto the Yextent desired,- which will increase the limit of elasticityand ultimate strenth and put the proper strains of compression on theinterior and tension on its exterior. After this pressure has been puton the interior of the gun a higher pressure is used on the part ot thebore toward the chamber and still higher pressures on the chamber itselfand the portion of the bore immediately adjoining, constitutingthat'part of the bore and chamber which are'loaded with heavypowder-pressure at the time of firing. It will generally be found.sncient toinsert at once' the single bar 50 with five or six annularspaces, one of' which covers the whole'of thechamber, the rest coveringall of the bore except so much as will bev required for the small ringswhich separate the dierent annular spaces around the bar 50. Thepressure from .the liquid may then be applied in all these spaces atonce, increasing i n each from the muzzle to the chamber, having suchpressure in each as that part of the gun'should be tested with. Thesepressures may all be put on at once, if desired, each part being fullystrained with the maximum pressure it is to be strained with, and whenthus strained with this pressure allowed to remain so for a suitabletime. Similar powder-pressures, acting, as they do, only for a smallportion of a second, `are Vnot likely to again disturbthe form of thegun. The gun having been thus fully strained, the bar 50 should beremoved, the chamber and bore carefully reamed to the exact sizerequired, and. the rifling performed, when the breech apparatus isassembled therewith and th gun is ready for use. i

It will be seen that the process described for condensing thebore-lining is directly applicable to condensing the interior of thegunbarrel 23 or other part of the gun throughout its whole or any partof its length and straining it to position as desired. This may often beadvantageously done even when the piece is made of soft tempered steel,as the parts when so strained resist further expansion with very greatforce, more force being required even to again move them permanentlythan the original force used in condensingand expanding, the limitof-elasticity and u1- timate strength having both been greatly increasedby this process of condensing and outward expansion.

TheAchamber-lining 27 and bore-lining 28 lmay either or both becondensedby being inserted into a suitable receptacle and there subjected to averyheavy liquid-pressure acting upon the wholeof the interior surfaceand from the interior outward, vwhen the extorior would be firmlypressed against suitablek retaining-walls to endure this pressure.

'This pressure should be so great as to make the metal sensibly dense,and acting from the interior outward will causestrains of tension on theexterior and compression on the interior when the piece isremoved fromthe 'receptacle in which it is condensed. These walls will require tobeof very great strength, as the pressure 4necessary to properlycondense these linings shonldbe from sixty thou,- sand to one hundredand twenty thousand pounds to the square inch. By expanding theselinings thus against the walls ot the retaining apparatns and with thesegreat pressures the lining is made true and smooth with theretaining-walls and is free from all unsymmetrical strains and whenremoved will have tension on its exterior'both longitudinal andtangential and compression on its interior both longitudinal andtangential.

Should the chamber-lining 27 or bore-lining,

` or both, be made of metal which would be improved by cold condensing,they may be condensed before insertion or after, as desired, and `incases where they are very thin and the chamber and bore are of largediameters they may be condensed by the process of rolling, either in thesupplementary apparatus or after they are placed in the gun. The rollersin such case had best be in pairs, with an adjustment for throwing theircenters apart during the process of rolling, so that as the arborrotates which carries themaround over the surfaces of the bore orchamber linin g and the material becomes condensed the distance betweenthe rollers maybe gradually increased to increase the pressure ofthesurface being condensed. When this process of condensing by the usev ofthe rollers is used asy IOO rcs

IIO

thus described, the condensing of the metal 1 may be aided byapplyingliquid-pressure on the interior .of the gun bore or chamber lining atthe same time that the rollers. are'acting, the combined pressure. ofthe liquid acting on the surface around the roller with the pressure bfthe roller, giving much more effective condensation than willthe'liqnid-l pressu re or rollerpressure when applied alone, When thisprocess is adopted, the arbor which carries the roll or rollers shouldhave packings made to stand heavy pressures `through which it slidesbackward and vforward as it rotates and moves longitudinally to bringthe'roll or rollers over all parts of the bore or lchamber lining, theliquid-pressure acting onthe whole interior surface of the parts whilethe rolling proceeds. Fig. VI showsa longitudinal section of the gunwith an apparatus of this kind in operation.

Apparatus can be provided to put liqidi pressure on a portion only ofthebore or chamber lining at a time and rolling at this part be proceededwith and afterward the apparatus so moved along to condense the otherportions of -the bore or chamber lining; but I think it will in generalbe found better to pnt the liquid-pressure on the whole interior of thepiece being condensed at the same time and then allow the roll 5()b orrollers while this pressure is continued to pass over the whole interiorsurface of the piece being condensed.

When lused without radial adjustment of the rollers, the lining 27 isbored slightly larger at the rear end, where the rollers are introduced.The chamber is then tightly closed by means of the packing described,the duid-pressure applied, and the arbor simultaneously rotated andadvanced by suitable mechanism, the lining (or other part of the gun, asthe case may be) being thus expanded to position and condensedsufficiently by advancing the rollers-from one end to the other and backagain,'or a second arbor with rollers having slig-htly more projectionmay be applied and the operation repeated as often as necessary.

While referring in this specification to liquid as the medium ofapplying the required heavy pressure, I desire to be understood asincluding any suitable Aliquid orgas or other material having sufficientfluidity for the purpose. Under the very heavy pressure employed thiscondition will include some materials usually termed solids If a gas beused, the pressure may be produced either by mechanical means or whollyor in part byv the generation of the gas in a reservoir of suicientstrength.

I am aware that liquid-pressure has been used for shaping thin metalshells and for fitting thin sheet-metal linings of lead, copper, orbrass to press cylinders to prevent their leaking; but the pressuresrequired for this do not condense the metal, being very small comparedwith the pressure previously used to draw the shells or to roll theplates of. which such linings are made.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newtherein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

4 1. In the manufacture of guns, the process of treating the walls ofthe bore or chamber of the gun or the bore-linings or chamberlinings ofthe gun, which consists in applying heavy liquid-pressure thereto,sucient to condense such part, and greatly increase its limit ofelasticity and ultimate strength.

2. In the manufacture of guns, the process of treating a chamber or borelining, which consists in 'intrdncing the part to be treated into asuitable condensing apparatus, introducing into the interior of the partto be treated, heavy liquid-pressure suicient to force the walls oftthepart firmly against the surrounding apparatus, to condense the metal ofsaid part being treated, and greatly' increase its limit of elasticityand ultimate strength.

3. The process of expanding the inner parts of a gun against the outerparts thereof, which consists in introducing into the inner parts liquidunder different pressures, lin dif ferent portions of the inner parts,suicient to force the inner parts out against the outer parts and givepermanent extension to the inner parts, and strain them to their properposition, increasing their limit of elasticity and ultimate strength andfirmly securing the lparts together.

,ton being greater than that used in the front portion, the pressuresbeing sufficient to permanently enlarge the parts into which they areintroduced.

5. The process of expanding the bore or chamber lining or other part ofa gun outwardly by means of heavy hydraulic pressure acting on theinterior thereof, which consists in introducing into the interiorthereof a straining-bar, introducing around the bar three or morepackings forming two or more chambers between said packings, introducingdifferent degrees of heavy hydraulic pressure into the respectivechambers so formed and expanding themetal around said chambers to theextent desired. 6. The process of condensing the bore or chamber liningor other part of the gun, which consists in introducing into vtheinterior thereof heavy liquid-pressure and at the same timerolling it onthe interior with a roller or rollers to condense it.

ALBERT H. EMERY.

Witnesses:

AMELIA P. EMERY, ARTHUR C. TA'rE.

